


a stranger on an unfamiliar road

by idrilhadhafang, idrilsdarkwritings (idrilhadhafang)



Series: The Survival of Jamie Lloyd [3]
Category: Halloween Movies - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Trauma, Creepy Michael Myers, Fix-It of Sorts, Jamie Lloyd Deserved Better, Jamie Lloyd Needs A Hug, Michael Myers Speaks, Missing Scenes, Multi, Telepathic Bond, Uncle-Niece Relationship, if telepathy counts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26883382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang, https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilsdarkwritings
Summary: Snippets from Haddonfield, in an alternate timeline where Jamie Lloyd wasn’t captured.
Relationships: Jamie Lloyd & Michael Myers
Series: The Survival of Jamie Lloyd [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961317
Kudos: 14





	1. After the Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Title from “The Road” by Hurts. Also, if Michael is more chatty than usual, it’s mostly because I was playing with the psychic link that Halloween 6 mysteriously dropped. (Shit, and people say the Sequel Trilogy wasn’t planned...)

“Jamie Anna Lloyd, do you know much of a fright you gave me?” Nurse Pattsey hugged Jamie even as Marion Chambers delivered her into the children’s home. “You could have been killed!”

”I was only trying to help...”

”I know you were, baby,” Nurse Pattsey said. “But I was scared to death. If you’d died...where did you go? Where did he take you?”

”I — I saw him...”

And even breaking down in Nurse Pattsey’s arms, Jamie wondered how she was going to explain it. 

“Is Billy okay?” she said, once she was able to recover. 

”He’s recovering,” Nurse Pattsey said. “That...creature,” and Jamie had a feeling she was about to say something stronger, “Who would try to kill _children_?”

***  
  
Jamie couldn’t say that she could sleep, in that moment. There weren’t any hallucinations of the Boogeyman that sprung up in that moment, like there would have been a year ago, or moments when she could feel the pain of Michael’s victims, but she was very much alone. Alone in the children’s home, trying to get to sleep — even as she felt Michael’s presence in the back of her head.

”Why are you doing this?” she said, her voice small in the darkness of the room. 

_Interesting_ , that gruff, soft voice said, _I would say the same thing about you. Crawling inside my head, making me weak..._

“W-what are you talking about?” Jamie said. It was a good thing that Nurse Pattsey was asleep, as were the other kids. “I didn’t want this!”

 _You took my hand. You had a taste of the hunt. The curse. I killed that man to show my strength, my superiority. I_ am _the Void, little girl.  
_

”W-what about Tina?”

 _Stupid, but noble. It was nothing personal; she was in my way._

“And Rachel?”

 _She was also in my way._

“I-it’s not fair.” Jamie curled in on herself. “They were just trying to help me...”

Silence. She could have sworn she felt a series of confused images over the link. Rachel, being stabbed again — no hatred there, just checking an item off a list. Tina, only being stabbed because she was there. 

”Why do you wanna kill me?” Jamie said. “I — I mean...I didn’t do anything to you...”

 _You didn’t_.   
  
Confused, scrambled rambling over their link. A flash, of a strange, knifelike tattoo on Michael’s wrist. An old woman, grabbing the wrist of a six year old boy, the same six year old boy that Jamie had seen in the costume shop, as a hallucination. 

The Nightmare Boy. 

_The Man in Black thought he could chain me to him. But he is dead — and I am superior.  
_

_”_ Are you gonna kill me?”

_The night’s over, child. I’ve been...thwarted before. I have survived shootings, fire, fire and water...but this is the first time I will spare you of my own volition. All Souls’ Day is coming fast._

It dawned on Jamie that this man wasn’t a man at all. That he fancied himself some sort of Grim Reaper — that Rachel, Tina, and others were dead because he wanted to get to her. 

She buried her face in the pillow as tears streamed down her cheeks. 

There was a brief moment when Jamie fancied she felt Michael’s confusion — an uncertainty as to how to respond. Then, _You...were as worthy an opponent as a nine year old girl can be._

Jamie didn’t know if that was a compliment or not. She sniffled in that moment. “I want Rachel and Tina back.”

 _You can’t tamper with what’s meant to be, child._ A beat. _This won’t be the last you see of me. I’ll be with you, little girl, as the right Samhain comes ‘round.  
_

_***  
_

_”_ Jamie?” Nurse Pattsey said. “Is everything all right? Was someone in your room?” She was up now, fussing over Jamie like a mother hen. “Do you need me to lock the windows?”

Jamie sniffled. “I’m okay.” How was she going to explain anything to Nurse Pattsey. 

”Oh, you poor girl. You poor brave girl...” Nurse Pattsey patted her head. “You have been brave. I doubt I could have survived so many horrors at your age.”

Jamie didn’t know if she was brave. But she was grateful to have support, at least in that moment. 


	2. Questions of Right and Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marion confronts Loomis, and Michael continues to be a creepy asshole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Not gonna lie, Michael’s...creepy in this chapter. Poor Jamie. Michael (expanding on his weird behavior in Halloween 5) thinks he loves her (not like that; they’re related), but he’s really a horrible human being so...

“SAMUEL LOOMIS, THERE ARE NO WORDS FOR HOW...HOW _DESPICABLE_ YOU ARE!”

Doctor Loomis could not say he was having a good day, and it became worse when Marion Chambers stormed into his hospital room with fire in her eyes. 

”Where’s Jamie?” he said. 

”Away from you,” Marion said curtly. “I knew you were obsessed with defeating Michael, Sam. But using a nine year old girl as bait? I didn’t expect you to sink that low, Sam.”

”I did what I had to do. To stop him...” A beat. “He’s a monster, Marion...”

” _He’s_ not the one who used a nine year old as bait.” Marion said. “God, Sam...what’s happening to you? Ever since Jen’s death — ”

“Don’t,” Loomis said. “Don’t say her name.”

”She would find you utterly disgusting if she saw you now!”

Silence. 

”You...you didn’t see what he did,” Loomis said. “Everything I did, I did to keep Haddonfield safe. I tried to keep him at bay, I tried to get Jamie to help. I thought she was being stubborn, that she was protecting him. That they’d formed a...a bond.”

”Are you fucking _kidding_ me?”

Loomis winced. Then, “It was last Halloween. Jamie...she had attacked her foster mother. Badly injured her. There was so much blood — it was when she came out of a trance that I realized that he’d...corrupted her.”

”Jamie. Is a little girl.”

Loomis looked pained. “I know. Michael...if he has even a shred of kindness in that twisted black heart of his, it’s towards her. I was using her as bait,” and it took all of Marion Chambers’ self-control not to fly into another rage, “But I also thought that he would find some degree of compassion towards his niece. There was a part of me, however ridiculous, however irrational, that believed it.” A shaky laugh. “I’ve been fighting him so long, Marion. My God, have I lost myself?”

”If you really think he’d show compassion towards Jamie — ”

“I did hear something. In the attic. I was badly injured but...I heard it. I heard Jamie’s voice. And the fact that he hadn’t killed her...that he chose not to kill her...” Loomis sighed. "I didn’t think he had it in him. Just for that brief moment. I was intending to trap and kill him. Of course, it wouldn’t work. Shooting him didn’t work. Burning him to death didn’t work. Every time he dies, he rises again as strong as before...”

Marion took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay composed. “I can’t forgive you this,” she said. “You talk about Michael, but you’ve been losing your humanity while you’ve been fighting him. The Sam I knew would have offered himself in place of Jamie. The Sam I knew would have done anything to protect her. I guess that’s why you didn’t die that time in the Myers house — so you would have to live with the fact you could have helped Myers win.”

Loomis froze. Marion could have sworn his eye twitched. 

”I don’t like this new Loomis,” she said. “Sam...whatever you’re changing into, stop it. Turn away from this path before it’s too late.”

And then she walked away. She found herself breathing hard, already distraught at yelling at her old colleague — but she wasn’t about to fail to protect Jamie. 

She'd skin Myers alive if it meant keeping Jamie safe. 

***

Samuel Loomis was already too exhausted to really get angry at Marion Chambers. Even as her words echoed in his head, he realized, with a jolt, that she was right. 

He had lost his compassion. It was like he had loved Haddonfield and wanted to protect it so much that he’d put a child in danger just to stop this abomination that plagued it.

Even the small things...grabbing Jamie, getting in her face — throwing Sheriff Meeker’s murdered daughter in his face — he never would have imagined that he was capable of such things. Of falling so far, of learning nothing — and even the fact that Michael could have very well killed Jamie because of Loomis’ own arrogance and idiocy...

”Sam,” he whispered to himself, “Did you ever think you were _capable_ of this?”

***

”You okay, Jamie?” Marion said softly when she was back at the clinic. 

Jamie nodded. “Where were you?”

”I was...having a little chat with Sam.” Judging by the grit in Marion’s voice, she was clearly angry. 

Jamie furrowed her brow. “You weren’t too mean to him, were you?”

Marion sighed. “Kid, you could have died and he would have been indirectly responsible for your death.”

”He was trying to stop m-my uncle...”

Marion furrowed her brow. “You’re...related to this man?”

”Yeah. The other kids in school...they hated me because of it." Jamie didn’t know why she was saying this, other than the fact that she needed someone to talk to. 

”Is that so?” Marion said. 

”Don’t be mad at them!” Jamie said. “They were just scared. I — I mean...that’s why they were after me. I scared them...” A beat. “And after I hurt my mom...what if they’re right?”

Marion paused. Then, “Sam said you were in a trance.”

”Yeah. The boogeyman was hurt. And...I went to him. He was a bad person, but I thought if he was gonna die, he shouldn’t die alone.” A beat. “I don’t know why.”

Marion winced. Then, “And then?”

”It was like he was in my head and he — he made me hurt my mom! It was like he was inside my head...”

Jamie remembered it, the feeling like she was seeing through her uncle’s eyes, the feeling that there was nothing there except hell...

Marion paused. Then, “I can’t say I’m knowledgeable about...pure evil, as Sam would have put it. It’s obvious you need psychiatric help.”

”Because I’m crazy?”

”Jamie, it’s not that,” Marion said. “You were nearly murdered multiple times, you watched Tina Williams die, you saw your foster sister’s body, you were used as bait...you need someone to listen to you. Therapy isn’t just for ‘crazy’ people, and even if you were ‘crazy’, would that make everything you think and feel invalid?”

Jamie shook her head. 

”Smart girl.” Marion ruffled her hair. “Billy’s recovering. He’ll have some scarring, but he’s a tough kid.” A beat. “He’s a good friend, that one.”

”Yeah.” Jamie smiled faintly. “He really is.”

***

Marion left, and Jamie was alone again. Alone, with her uncle in her head. 

_The mother bear defending her cub...you really do have a talent for inspiring loyalty, don’t you, little bear?_

Jamie didn’t reply. 

_You know...I never understood why people like Loomis would fight the natural progression of things. Did you know that he offered himself to make sure that I would stop killing? Of course...he suffered a bit of a decay in that regard. Though, offering you as bait...I didn’t think he had it in him..._

”He — he beat you.”

 _I can die a thousand, a million, an infinite number of times, Jamie, and still I will rise again as strong as before._

Jamie sniffled. “You’re a monster.”

Silence. Then, _I’m a soldier following commands. Or was_. A beat. _I will say that talking with you makes me feel less...purposeless._

“Purposeless?”

 _This is the first time I’ve been_ conscious _to witness Halloween passing. I find that...disappointing._   
  
Jamie could see images over their link, in that moment. A man, unmasking, his persona as the Grim Reaper momentarily put aside to be replaced by simply a man. 

Michael continued. _I need purpose_. _Perhaps you could give me_ that. 

”Why didn’t you kill me when I called you ‘uncle’?”

Jamie didn’t get words as much as an image. Her mother, seventeen years old and terrified, calling Michael by his name. 

And a moment, a moment where he remembered. A flash of a baby Laurie, and Michael studying it with a quizzical gaze. 

Flashes of contrasts. Laurie, running away. Jamie, running away from Michael, again and again and again. 

_You and her are so much alike._ Michael’s “voice“ wasn’t soft enough for tenderness, for affection. But it was there nonetheless. 

”So you don’t wanna...”

Silence. 

”Why don’t you just leave?”

 _Can a soldier just leave the battlefield_?

Jamie swallowed. 

_You are strong,_ Michael said. _You are only a child, and too gentle by half, but somehow you’ve outwitted me. Inspiring loyalty, perhaps?_

 _”_ I don’t do that.”

Silence. Confusion. 

Jamie said, “I-it’s because of you that I could never be...normal. The kids at school hated me. Because of you.”

 _They’re afraid of my power, aren’t they? My strength. They’re small-minded fools_.

“You killed people.”

 _Death is a natural part of life, Jamie. Besides...some of them I can’t imagine you’re sorry to see go. You could say I’m doing Haddonfield a favor_. Then, _Though I say you underestimate how many people are willing to die for you. To protect you_. 

Jamie didn’t know if Michael was trying to break her, but it was working. 

_You could rest in me. I could help you_. 

”I won’t.”

_Say what you will, Jamie. But when all of Haddonfield has turned on you, when you need me — I will find you. Because you’re just like me.  
_

_I will always be waiting for you._


	3. The Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie visits Billy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The ride to the hospital was a long one, and Jamie couldn’t deny that she was anxious. There was the matter of if Billy was going to be all right, just for example. 

If. She could still remember that horrible night when she and Billy had headed out in their Halloween costumes to try and save Tina — because Jamie knew that she couldn’t just let Tina die, not if it was possible to save her. 

It was something that Jamie wished that she’d been able to do. She was only nine, that was true, but at the same time, Tina was her friend, and she wasn’t about to let her friends be in danger. 

Michael seemed to be out of her head for the moment. Jamie was relieved, if she was to be perfectly honest. She just wanted him to leave her alone; she didn’t want any part of his twisted worldview, his lack of remorse for the lives he took, any of it. 

(Was she any different? After all, she had nearly killed her foster mother who’d done nothing wrong...)

Marion pulled up to the hospital just then. “You okay?” she said. 

”Yeah.” Then, “My mommy went to a hospital kinda like this.”

”Well, your uncle won’t be lurking in there.” The _right now_ in Marion’s voice seemed to at least be implied. “Come on.”

They entered, walked down hallways. Checked in. And Jamie felt herself relax when she saw Billy, in a hospital gown and awake, sitting up and smiling at her. “J-Jamie!”

”Billy!” Jamie almost leapt on the bed, but Marion, gently stopped her. 

”The poor boy’s been through a lot,” she said. “I don’t think it’s right to...aggravate it.”

”Oh. Okay.” Jamie smiled at Billy nonetheless. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

”Me too.” 

The silence was long, reminding Jamie of what could have happened. If Billy had died — either succumbing to his injuries or being killed by Michael.

”Are y-you okay?” Billy said. 

”I am.” It was easier than saying “no”. She couldn’t explain to him having a bond with her Uncle. “How’s the hospital?”

”Fine. People are nice, though some stuff was scary. S-still, I’m here.”

"You are." Jamie swallowed. “Billy, I really did think you were gonna die...”

”I did too."

They talked in that moment, and it was good, Jamie thought, just to talk with Billy again. Just to know he was alive. 

***

 _The boy from the field_. 

It was when Jamie was alone in her clinic room, drawing her best rendition of a nine year old’s version of Billy, that she saw blurred, almost staticky images in her head. The boogeyman, hitting Billy with the car he was driving. Jamie still didn’t know how exactly she had outrun the car, made it to the tree to cause him to crash and temporarily slow him down...but she could only assume she’d gotten lucky. 

”Why did you hurt him?” Jamie said, a little more steadily now. 

_He was in my way_. 

”He was my friend!”

 _Your first friend your own age_?

Jamie froze. It was a good thing that Nurse Pattsey and the others weren’t there, because...

”...y-yeah.”

She could still remember. Kyle, and the others, following her down the hallway even as they taunted her about her family. About her uncle. About her parents being dead. 

_It’s because they were fools_ , her uncle “said”. _They should have feared you — never thought to cross you._

“They were nice to me when I went trick-or-treating with them...”

 _Perhaps they did fear you. There’s a certain value in being feared_. Then, _People didn’t start out fearing me. They learned to._

Jamie paused. In the end, she didn’t want to be feared. She wanted to fit in — to be loved. It had been a worry with Rachel, when Rachel was still alive. That feeling of being alone in the universe, of being different. Marked. Like people could see THE BOOGEYMAN’S NIECE all but plastered across her forehead. 

Sometimes, when people bullied her, when they taunted her about being an orphan, when Loomis demanded to know where Michael was and why Jamie was protecting him, she wondered if it was abundantly obvious. 

_You could strike back at them. It would be easy, wouldn’t it, just to take Kyle’s life?_

”I won’t.”

_You could become more powerful than you really are. Strike back.  
_

”I’m n-not like you,” Jamie said. “I’m not _evil_...”

A chuckle. _Loomis told you that, didn’t he? All his rantings about me, how I was a monster. I am what I was made._

”W-who made you?”

Jamie thought back to when Michael had been knocked to the side of the road. The strange mark on his wrist, the hint of something there...

 _It’s been so long, child_. Michael sounded almost tired. _Longer than you think. Long ago, I was chosen. You could have been chosen, could have accepted it...why didn’t you?_

”Rachel.”

That was easy. Just remembering her foster sister’s voice. Her face. Her unwavering faith in Jamie. 

”Did anyone have any faith in you, Uncle Michael?” Jamie said. “Loomis didn’t, did he?”

 _He used to_. 

Flashes in Jamie’s mind. A boy, with blond hair that would eventually fade to brown. A younger Loomis, with more hair. _“Say something, Michael. Let me help you.”_

The years progressing. Loomis getting more disillusioned, more frightened — colder. It was like Jamie could see him losing compassion, before her very eyes. 

_It does not matter,_ Michael said. _Loomis was a fool...thinking that he could apply old psychology to something far beyond his comprehension. I will confess...I didn’t think he had it in him that Halloween night.  
_

“No...”

(Grabbing hands. A voice of Loomis’ that was almost unrecognizable)

The door opened, and Nurse Pattsey entered. “You should rest, Jamie,” she said softly. “Here...your rabbit...”

It was a familiar clinic stuffed rabbit. Jamie found it comforting to cling to even as she lay awake, trying to fall asleep. 


End file.
